LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Federal Board of Revenue to stop issuing undue notices to the businessmen as it is vitiating the business atmosphere in the country.
While chairing the LCCI executive committee meeting, the LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the repeated issuance of notices is not only hitting businesses hard but also damaging government’s drive to expand tax net. The LCCI senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed also addressed the meeting.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that all the leading economies were giving incentives to expedite economic activities in their respective countries but in Pakistan the people who are sitting at the helm of affairs were doing the otherwise at this point in time when almost all the businesses were facing a number of internal and external pressures.
The LCCI president said that the manufacturing sector is already passing through very critical times due to various internal and external challenges and in dire need of handholding by the government to run their businesses.
He said that the private sector was ready to supplement all the government efforts aimed at revival of economic activities in the country if they are provided breathing space but in the presence of such anti business tactics, it would be very difficult for the private sector to continue with their businesses.
He said that acts like raids on industrial units and shops would hamper the economic activities. He said that the Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar should take notice of the whole situation and stop the FBR officials from entering into the business premises.
They said that if there is an urgent need to take action against any particular industrial unit, the FBR officials should be directed to take concerned association or the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on board.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad further said that economically challenged countries cannot play the role of global economic leaders therefore federal budget documents should be a starting point for our new economic journey. He said that there is not dearth of resources in the country but there is only need to fix an accurate direction.
He said that trade and industry is the engine of growth and country cannot move ahead without resolving its major issues. He said that all possible measures should be taken in the federal budget to unravel the problems which are hampering the trade & economic activities.
He said that smuggling of goods is a longstanding issue which is becoming severe with the passage of time. He said that lack of solid measures, illegal trade has been expanded to billions dollar and only causing huge damage to the local industry but to the national exchequer.
First of all, government should fill the loopholes to control the illegal trade and conduct a detailed study in consultation with the stakeholders that how goods are rushing in illegally. He said that not only checking system at borders should be more effective through modern technology but those officials should be brought into justice who are facilitator of smuggling.
He said that taxes and duties on smuggling-prone items should be reduced to the maximum to discourage the illegal trade of these items. He said that at present intelligence officials have adopted an illogical way to control the smuggling. They used to stand outside of the markets, stop the incoming and outgoing consignment of the traders and not only waste their lot of time but also harass them through every possible way.
The LCCI president said that business community has attached a lot of hopes with present regime and expecting that federal budget 2016-17 would start a new era of progress and prosperity and issues of business community including smuggling, harmful taxation system, double taxation, duty on import of industrial raw materials and misbalance in federal and federal and provincial tax regime would be solved through concrete measures.
